# Let's Talk About Sherry Wines



## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

Does anyone besides me enjoy Sherry Wines?

Which are your favorite brands and styles?


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## SammySticks (Jan 31, 2011)

Not to go too off topic on you here, but the Glenfiddich 15 year (I believe it's the 15 year) is aged in sherry casks and it gives it that wonderful sweetness of the sherry that pairs really well with a sweeter cigar.

As for sherry itself, it's never been my drink of choice - but in fairness I haven't ventured too far from my scotches, brandys, and bourbons when it comes to drinking with cigars.


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## aea6574 (Jun 5, 2009)

Can you tell me more about some good Sherrys?

I really am a fan of Ports and I believe these are similar?

Best regards, tony


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

aea6574 said:


> Can you tell me more about some good Sherrys?
> 
> I really am a fan of Ports and I believe these are similar?
> 
> Best regards, tony


Sherry is indeed similar in some ways to Port Wine, but then again, there are many distinct difference. They are both considered to be Dessert Wines.

Lustau is one of the largest producers of Sherry. Here are most of there various offerings with descriptions of their flavor profiles. BTW, most of them can be purchase for $25 or less, many only cost between $10 & $20.

LUSTAU MANZANILLA 
Aged under a veil of yeast ("flor") in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, the wine has a pale colour, hints of the sea breeze on the nose, and a delicate acidity. Serve well chilled (7-9ºC). A good match for fish and seafood.

LUSTAU FINO 
Pale in colour, crisp, yet soft on the palate, with light acidity and a yeasty tang. Aged under "flor". Serve well chilled (7-9ºC) as an aperitif or to accompany fish and seafood. Also a good match for sushi or sashimi.

LUSTAU AMONTILLADO
A dark golden colour. Full bodied, with penetrating nutty aromas. Serve at 14ºC with nuts and dried fruits, consommé, white meats, artichokes and spicy Asian dishes.

LUSTAU PALO CORTADO
This wine combines the richness on the palate of the Oloroso with the delicacy on nose of the Amontillado. It is perfect to accompany nuts, matured cheeses, dried fruits and red meats. Serve at 16ºC.

LUSTAU OLOROSO
Old gold in colour. Full- bodied and with great intensity on the nose due to the long ageing. This wine combines softness and great complexity, giving enormous length on the palate. Rich stews and red meats would be a very good food pairing for this wine. It is also an excellent digestif.

LUSTAU CREAM
This style is a blend of Oloroso and a touch of Pedro Ximénez. Sweet and soft with excellent depth and delicate aromas. Serve at 13º with light desserts or as a digestif with ice.

LUSTAU MOSCATEL
This Moscatel must be catalogued as one of the best dessert wines of the world. It shows the distinct characteristics of the grape of the same name, with citrus notes on the nose and a warm softness on the palate. It is perfect served at 13ºC with fruit based desserts.

LUSTAU PEDRO XIMÉNEZ
Produced exclusively with Pedro Ximénez grapes, which are sun-dried until they become raisins. This is a dense, soft, sweet and velvety wine of a dark mahogany colour with rich aromas of figs and raisins. Serve at 13ºC with chocolate desserts, crème brûlée, or poured over vanilla


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## cheese (Dec 26, 2009)

Sherry has a huge variety in its styles and I wouldn't consider them all to be dessert wines. Some can be very bitter and dry. In the Lustau brand descriptions posted here you will notice they hardly have any description of the flavors. Some of the styles are definitely an acquired taste. Disclaimer: Very generic information based on personal experience for here on out.

To simplify things we can split sherry into two categories, sweet and not sweet. (This is not how the wine world does it but it's how I do it. The wine world splits sherry into light body and full body.) The sweets would be cream, moscatel and PX. Not sweet is the rest. I tend to avoid the not sweet sherry but occasionally do have some.

In general, you can expect nutty flavors, some bitterness and dryness from not sweet sherry. Fino tends towards an almond flavor and is very light bodied. Amontillado can have hazelnut and sometimes an almost peanut flavor and is usually medium bodied. Oloroso has a walnut flavor (along with the noticeable bitterness you would expect from a walnut) and sometimes just a hint of sweet though I usually don't notice it. It is also full bodied.

Now for the sweet stuff. I really enjoy this style of wine and it's where I would recommend a port drinker start. There are a lot of cream sherries out there but I would recommend avoiding the mass produced stuff. It's rich and velvety with some caramel and toffee flavors. The Lustau is decent but I would take Sandeman Armada over it any day. Also good is Alvear Solera Cream. I haven't yet tried a moscatel. Last, but certainly not least, is Pedro Ximenez, or PX. This stuff is phenomenally rich and sweet with tons of vanilla flavor and intense raisin flavor. The only way I can think to describe the flavor would be if you took a really good vanilla cream soda and made a reduction sauce out of it. The Alvear Solera 1927 PX is amazing but my favorite is Dios Baco Oxford 1970 PX. This stuff is so sweet and intense the best way to serve it (aside from straight up in a glass) is poured over a good home made vanilla bean ice cream.

Here is a link to the Dios Baco PX:

Dios Baco NV Pedro Ximenez - 500ml


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

Hey Cheese, your comments are well stated, with respect to a simple basic break down. You broke the Sherry's into two categories, sweet and not sweet and that's pretty basic. Personally, I believe that a minimum of three categories are needed, Not Sweet (very dry), Medium (semi-sweet) and Sweet (a true dessert wine). 

In Spain, where all Sherry comes from, the style of choice is the Not Sweet (Dry & very dry), the Medium and the Sweet are not nearly as popular and that is also true throughout most of Europe. In the US and many other countries the Sweet and Medium Sweet are the most popular styles. Of course there are technical names that define the various styles.


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## SammySticks (Jan 31, 2011)

John, I'll ask my Beer/Wine/Spirits columnist on the radio show this weekend and I'll be sure to post what he says! I need to expand my horizons in both port and sherries. I've not had great experiences with my limited exposures so I need to try new ones.


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## JohnnyFlake (May 31, 2006)

SammySticks said:


> John, I'll ask my Beer/Wine/Spirits columnist on the radio show this weekend and I'll be sure to post what he says! I need to expand my horizons in both port and sherries. I've not had great experiences with my limited exposures so I need to try new ones.


Good!

I do not have very much experience with Port Wine either, in fact very little. I do know that Port Wines can be very expensive, where most Sherry Wines are not.


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## cheese (Dec 26, 2009)

I love both Sherry and Port but I'm much more knowledgeable about Port although I really know very little compared to some people.

To be perfectly honest, the only reason I first tried Amontillado was because of Poe. :spider:


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